EMERGENCY services had to deal with a devastating passenger jet plane crash in London today, but luckily it was part of a pre-planned training exercises.

More than 220 blue light service personnel took part in the enacted disaster training at a "crash site" set up in a building by the Thames in east London to test emergency response procedures.

A real fuselage from a Boeing 737 aircraft was partially covered using 400 tonnes of rubble and real flame and smoke were used.

Firefighters trained in water rescue searched the river for "survivors", with actors from Amputees in Action, an agency which provides amputee actors, playing the part of casualties.

Hosted by London Fire Brigade, the three-day training drill is taking place in and around a derelict Victorian flour mill known as Millennium Mills in London's Docklands.

A real fuselage from a Boeing 737 aircraft was used [PA]

Although this type of incident is extremely rare, it is important that we work together and plan now so we can continue to be well prepared for every possibility

Jason Killens, London Ambulance Service

London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said: "Whilst this scenario may appear worrying for some, I would like to reassure the public that these sort of exercises are vital to ensure that rescue teams are fully prepared should something like this ever happen in London.

"It is only through this kind of exercise that we can fully test our plans and ensure that all the agencies which would be involved can respond effectively together, in a co-ordinated manner.

"Air traffic incidents are extremely rare, but it is my responsibility to ensure that our fire and rescue teams, working with the other emergency services, are ready in the unlikely circumstance that something catastrophic were to occur with a plane in the capital."

Jason Killens, London Ambulance Service director of operations, said the exercise provided a "valuable learning opportunity" for staff and tested their ability to cope with a real life major incident.

"Although this type of incident is extremely rare, it is important that we work together and plan now so we can continue to be well prepared for every possibility," he said.

Commander Peter Terry, head of emergency preparedness for the Met, said: "Major incident exercises like this one provide us with the perfect opportunity to practice and test our response with our partners in a realistic fast moving environment.

"They also allow us to examine what worked well and what difficulties we faced so we can take that learning and use it to improve our response and co-ordination when dealing with real live incidents in the future."

Over 220 blue light service personnel were involved in the exercise [PA]

Specialist Urban Search and Rescue teams from London and across the country worked together with members of the Metropolitan Police and the London Ambulance Service.

Crash debris and working black box simulators were placed in the water for the Met Police dive team to recover.

London Fire Brigade said the exercise has been planned for over a year and is "completely unrelated" to the MH370 Malaysia Airlines disaster.

Emergency personnel taking part in the drill were kept in the dark about what they would be coming up against.

But people living close to the site of the simulation were warned that there would be a large number of emergency service personnel and vehicles in the area for an exercise.